


Like a Good Neighbor, Mothman is There

by ennythesquid



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: I'm not sure how to tag this, Other, Reader is Nonbinary, graphic depictions of friendship, joining the mothfucker cult, slow burn? maybe, you move in next to mothman and eventually you'll get to kiss him
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:48:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22261186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ennythesquid/pseuds/ennythesquid
Summary: Imagine, if you will, the Eastwood RV park. Around this time of year (early summer) it’s nearly empty, the tourist crowd for the season long gone. Peaceful. Nice. Now imagine out of all of these empty spaces, in a row of empty spaces, next to other rows of empty spaces, you end up moving into the one! singular! space! That was Directly In Front of the Only Other Person in the entire RV park. FUCK.
Relationships: Indrid Cold (The Adventure Zone)/Reader
Comments: 6
Kudos: 27





	1. In Which Our Landlord Fails Us

**Author's Note:**

> in which a conversation is had.

Okay. Breathe.

You exhaled and opened your eyes. you looked down at your new lease, desperately rereading your lot number, and back up at the wooden post in front of you, then back down at the lease. The numbers were the same. Fuck. 

You glanced over at the Winnebago to your right. And then at it’s wood post to make sure IT wasn’t in the wrong spot. 

It wasn’t.

You swore under your breath and turned towards your own trailer, a kickass 1969 Image you’d traded your car for, and was maybe 15 feet away from your new neighbor’s doorstep! And completely in the way of  _ any _ view that they had had before. 

You stood there for about thirty seconds, staring at your trailer and worrying about the spot issue and how you would have to go right back to the leasing office to fix this, and would the neighbor would get offended? -When the Winnebago’s door opens. 

“Oh! Hello. Are you moving in?” Asked a lilting voice from behind you, who spun around, and started speaking before you could see them.

“Yep! I’m ____, sorry about the whole-” you started alone,

“-practically on top of you thing.” and ended speaking at the same time as the stranger.Your gaze met opaque, reflective red from a few feet away, and there stood the single most interesting looking motherfucker you had ever seen. They were lanky, with tan skin and silver hair, and a downright kickass pair of red round glasses. 

“My name is Indrid. It’s quite alright. I know the leasing office doesn’t let you pick which lot you get.” Indrid said, sounding almost amused. 

“They don’t? I thought I’d just missed a form or something.” You tried to make it sound like a joke, but the relief that this wasn’t a fuckup on your part was hard to mask.

The relief was quickly replaced by complete and utter confusion as to what the hell you were gonna do. Would it be rude to ask to move after meeting Indrid? Would he get offended. Would- You shook their head like an etch-a-sketch, sending that train of thought flying into the abyss for a second time. Indrid was looking at you, waiting for an answer??...? 

“I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” you asked sheepishly,

“um, I asked what brought you to Kepler? We don’t normally get many tourists in the off season.” Indrid smiled,

“I, uh… Honestly? I got bored of my job, so I threw a dart at a map and this is where it landed. I’ve spent the past few months saving for this bad boy,” You gestured affectionately at your trailer, “And I finally made it. Free from the capitalist hellscape that is retail work.” You explained, feeling proud of yourself. “How about you?”

Indrid laughs, “For… Much the same reason actually, without the darts.” 

“h, neat! Me too.” ‘ _ FUCK.’ _ You exhaled sharply, “I mean-”

“-that’s just a neat little coincidence.” Indrid said at the same time.

“Um… I actually have an errand to run, but it was nice meeting you, _____. I’ll see you later.” Indrid smiled and waved, walking off in the direction of town. You waved after him, before turning back to your trailer, and heading inside.

“-that’s just a neat little coincidence.” Indrid couldn’t stop himself from talking along. He had been seeing this conversation in his visions for days, and had come to terms with the fact that the leasing office wouldn’t let them use a different lot, and he now had a permanent neighbor, at least until their lease was up in a month.

* * *

Indrid smiled, “Um… I actually have an errand to run, but it was nice meeting you, _____. I’ll see you later.” He watched your posture relax on a hundred television screens at once. Walking away now, he saw you close the door and immediately scream into a pillow. 

He sighed, knowing that having a human in such close proximity was very bad, and he was going to have to be a *lot* more careful than he has been. He had to fight a grin down, trying to be serious.

Indrid hummed as he walked towards Leo’s General Store, on his way to pick up his weekly ‘nog supply, debating whether or not to duct tape his curtains shut, and his thoughts keep drifting back to his neighbor, half-watching them micro-organize an absolutely gigantic wall rack of alcohol markers and put together a grocery list. 

Their trailer was decorated eclectically, though Indrid could NOT judge. One of the walls was covered in sketches and sticky notes,and the table had a clunky desktop PC on it, in addition to the wall of markers and other assorted art supplies. It’s incredibly cozy, and you have music playing while you lay on the couch, doodling. 

Indrid smiled to himself. 

Even if he was going to have to take precautions, and maybe clean up some, Indrid was willing to try out this “neighbors” thing.


	2. Coffee Really Does Bring People Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah! Chapter 2!!! Don't worry, thing's'll start picking up next time.

_ You walked through the field alone. It was dusk, and light was fading quickly. You pulled out your flashlight and turned it on, pointing at the dry trampled grass in front of you. It came up to about knee height, and stopped abruptly on the edges of the field, which was ringed with pine trees. You trudge through the field, listening to crickets, the breeze, and the sound of your own footsteps, alone. Lightning bugs are starting to buzz by, lighting up the field. You hear a branch crack, forward and to your right. The flashlight beam illuminates a dark shape, crouching in the grass. You freeze. Before you can tell what it is, it’s on you, and you’re on the ground. _

And you wake up.

And you’re in your trailer, the AC just kicked on, and it’s dark. You’re breathing heavily, and are covered in cold sweat; there’s a memory of pain in your chest. 

You draw your legs up to your chest and you sigh. It was that dream again. You’d been having it for weeks, and written it off as stress. But it was starting to feel more  _ real _ , and was occuring more. 

Sitting in the dark, trying to steady your breathing, you suddenly feel claustrophobic. The air’s too still, and it feels like there’s ants crawling on your skin. 

Not even thinking, you grab a light hoodie from The Chair and head outside. It’s chilly, but it’s open.

Sitting down on the gravel in front of your trailer, you look up at the sky, which is choked with stars. 

You exhale deeply, and immediately start to feel better, the phantom pain fading into a vague unpleasant tingle. 

After a minute, you’re leaning against your trailer, just tracing constellations with your eyes, dissociating into the sounds of the Monongahela National Forest. 

Within 10, you had nearly forgotten about the dream entirely. 

* * *

The next morning you woke up back inside with all of your blankets on the floor, and a headache starting to come on. 

“Fuuuck.” You groaned, rolling over onto your stomach and burying your face in a pillow. 

You were going to take today to explore Kepler, and make use of the list you made yesterday. 

Your morning was uneventful, you got dressed, ate breakfast, and were out the door by 10, a backpack slung over your shoulder and hiking boots on.

Kepler was gorgeous. The road into the town proper was like a postcard, (and as you would find out, actually on one.) You hummed while you walked, hands in your pockets and one earbud in, connected to an Ipod that was older than some children. 

It took like 20 minutes to walk to Leo Tarkesian’s General Store, and you walked in to Ella Fitzgerald’s  _ Anything Goes _ playing from the store’s speakers. 

It was a Tuesday morning, so the store was pretty much empty, aside from a pair of forest rangers at the coffee maker. You took a basket from the stack next to the door, and started wandering. You had your list in one hand, and the basket hanging from the crook of your arm, completely absorbed by your task. 

Which is why it took a cough for you to notice the person standing next to you. You fumble with the can of coffee you were holding and turn to face them. It was one of the rangers, who was stood in front of you, looking… Frankly? Exhausted. 

“Hi?” You ask, subtly shifting into 'great, law enforcement' mode, with a customer-service smile. 

"Uhh, hi. Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble or anything.” The ranger reassured. He had mismatched blue/brown eyes and greying hair. “You’re new in town, right?” 

You nodded, “Yep, just moved in yesterday, is it that obvious?” 

The ranger laughed, “Nah, you’re not fish-outta-water or anything like that, Kepler just doesn’t get many new people in the summer. Not often I don’t recognize someone.” he paused, “Oh yeah, the name’s Duck Newton, and that’s Juno Divine,” he pointed at the other ranger by the coffee maker, who waved before walking over. 

“I’m _____, and I’m gonna go out on a limb and say… forest ranger?” You pointed at his badge, 

“Got it in one.” Juno joked, “Have you been to the park yet? It’s gorgeous this time of year.” You shook your head, smiling.

“Not yet, at some point this week though. Still getting settled in and whatnot.” 

“Well if you stop by the ranger station Thursday both of us’ll be there if you wanna tour of the forest.” Juno offered, 

“Sure! As long as it won’t be an inconvenience?” 

“Well I offered didn’t I?” Juno laughed, “Really, It’s no trouble.”

“Yeah, we’d love to have you.” Duck added before looking at his watch and grimacing, “Shit, Juno-” 

“Is it time already?” She asked, he nodded. “Well, time flies. It was great meetin’ you, ____. Thursday?” 

“I’ll see you then!” You grinned, and they paid for their coffee and left. 

It was then that you realized that you’d been holding your own can of coffee grounds this whole time, and you toss it into your basket, moving on to the next thing on your list.

* * *

The walk home is uneventful, if not tedious. You’d been walking for groceries for years, and could handle the two miles from your old apartment to Target easily, but Kepler’s foothills? That was a different story. 

When you made it to your trailer, you were wheezing lightly, and near yelled with relief as you shouldered your backpack off with a thud, and collapsing directly on the floor, exaggerating.

After a minute of enjoying the coolness of your floor, you sighed and got yourself a glass of water before putting your haul away. 

‘ _ Note to self, smaller runs.’  _

An hour later, you were drawing absentmindedly, just trying to put lines on paper, when the headache returned. You furrowed your eyebrows, unwilling to stop what you were doing. 

It was probably just from the change in elevation anyway, so you popped your ears like on an airplane, which didn’t do anything except make everything three times louder. 

“Fuck.” You rubbed your temples, leaning back into your booth. 

Giving up, you flipped the lights off and collapsed into bed with an ibuprofen, and pulled the blankets up over your head.

* * *

A small shape slinks through the undergrowth, off-balance. It’s moving kind of slowly, and bumping into trees. A closer look reveals it to be a fox, but… Different. 

It’s covered in this dripping,viscous black substance. It’s movements are jerky, like it’s having some trouble getting it’s paws off the ground, and is wheezing horribly around this substance. 

The fox’s oily fur is illuminated by moonlight as a crackling noise sounds from nearby The fox perks up instantly, ears trained on the noise. It waits for a second before shambling off towards it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uploaded on mobile bc i actually couldn't wait until i got home x
> 
> Also I've never written for any of the amnesty characters before? So pls tell me if my characterization is off.


	3. In Which It's Dark Outside

Fifteen feet away, Indrid Cold sketched furiously, pencil leaving thick lines pressed into the paper. He was sitting in bed with his back to the wall, surrounded by abandoned mugs of eggnog and discarded sketches, illuminated only by far too many space heaters, all plugged into the same overworked power strip. The wall behind him was covered in sketches as well, tacked up haphazardly; they showed various areas of Kepler: Tarkesian’s, the now repaired funicular rail, Amnesty Lodge, the Hornet’s Nest bar, and your trailer. 

Indrid was having a vision. He sees you doubled over in the woods, head in your hands and tears flowing from squeezed-shut eyes. Aubrey runs up to you and crouches by your side, putting her hand on your back to steady you. There’s a crash in the woods; Aubrey looks up, you don’t.

The sketchbook he’s holding has most of the pages ripped out, and the page he’s working on now has a mug ring on it. The lines that make up your body almost rip through the paper, Indrid pressed so hard. 

The vision ends with you looking up, directly at him.

He exhales through his nose and finally looks at the sketch, then at you, and he’s immediately reminded that you’re less than 20 feet away when your trailer door opens. 

Indrid glanced out the window, seeing you stumble down the steps and almost collapse into the gravel, a hand on the bridge of your nose, your face red. When you’re on the ground, you pull your knees to your chest and breathe deeply. 

And now Indrid is faced with a dilemma. 

There are futures where he goes out to talk to you, and you tell him to fuck off and mind his own business, ones where you accuse him of watching you, and you never talk to him again. 

Those ones, while present, are greatly outnumbered by ones where he asks what’s wrong, you grimace and say “Just a headache,” you tell him not to worry, and he keeps you company while your brain tries to escape through your eye sockets. Or you simply say, “nothing, just needed some fresh air!” And suffer silently. 

He looks back out the window. Both of your hands are smushed into your face. 

Indrid sighs, his choice made, and he opens the door, freezing when he ‘sees’ you for a second. You look up, eyes wide. 

“Are you alright?” He asked. You shook your head,

“Just a headache, don’t worry.” you smile at him, “I didn’t wake you up, did I?” you said, sounding apologetic,

“No, I was drawing. Would you like some company?” Indrid offers, ticking the seconds until your cue, while you think.

Eventually, you say “Sure, why not?” and your knees come away from your chest, and you cross your legs, gesturing to the gravel around you, “welcome to the floor - best place to be.” Indrid smiles, your words echo, his internal monologue saying them at the same time. He sits down next to you, and immediately wonders how you can stand sitting on this stuff in shorts.

You both sit for a minute, staring at the star choked sky, and his gaze shifts to you. The ‘you’ from his vision, crying and  _ exhausted _ , is juxtaposed on the ‘you’ now, looking at the stars and only looking vaguely uncomfortable with your palm pressed into your right temple. 

“So how are you enjoying Kepler so far?” He asked after the silence, you tear your eyes from the sky to look at him, headache obviously fading. 

“It’s been great so far,” You start, shifting the pressure on your head, “People are super nice up here.” Indrid smiles,

“I’m glad you’re settling in well. It is unfortunate about the headaches, though.” you grimaced in response,

“I know, right? This has never been a problem before.” 

“Do you have any ideas what’s causing them?” Indrid asked, relieved that you were starting to relax, the future fluctuating less and less. You shook your head in response,

“No, I thought it could be the pressure difference, but the ear-poppy thing didn’t work, so I’m not sure. Might be adjusting to the tap water even. I’ll either figure it out or I don’t.” you shrug in a ‘what-can-you-do’ manner. “I just-”

“-hope it doesn’t last.” Indrid says at the same time as you. You look at him, intrigued,

“So you just… do that sometimes?” with a small smile; at least you sounded amused and not offended.

“Um… Yes? I… run a little fast, occasionally.” Indrid explained, sounding vaguely apologetic, 

“Damn, I feel that. You haven’t gone “off script” or whatever, so it’s actually pretty impressive.” You said, air-quotes and all. Indrid had to physically stop himself from mirroring your movements. He grinned,  _ he _ hadn’t gone ‘off-script’, but  _ you _ certainly had, a few times now.

“Is it?” This was dangerous. This was so, so dangerous, and every single fibre of Indrid’s being told him to get off of this train of conversation Right Now. You hummed in response,

“Yeah. It’s almost like you can tell the future.” You joke. Indrid cringes internally. He’d seen this coming, and ignored it.

“No, unfortunately not.” He smiled, and watched you lean back against your trailer, narrowing your eyes at him incredulously. 

“That  _ really _ sounded like a lie, but okay.” You say slowly, looking back up at the sky before smiling. “Maybe Kepler’s gonna give  _ me _ superpowers.” Indrid laughed at that,

“Potentially. If you start being able to fly, give me a call.” Indrid wanted to yell. You were dragging him within an inch of his life here, and he couldn’t tell you how right you were. You were still looking at the sky, the stars reflected in your eyes. After thinking for a second, you hummed in agreement, smiling.

“Hey, do you have plans for tomorrow evening? I was gonna do a baked ziti, but that’s like… way Way too much food for one person.” 

“Um, sure?” There you were going off-script again. A new path opened, and Indrid hadn’t seen this coming. 

It wasn’t often that he didn’t see things coming, but this was a welcome occurrence. Less chance of him speaking over you, he was already acting suspicious enough. He looked ahead - there weren’t any futures where you did anything to hurt him or anything, so...

“Nice.” You said, “Do you have any allergies I should know about?” Indrid shrugged, 

“Not that I know of. You should be fine.” He responded, “Are you feeling better?” You nod,

“Yeah, this one’s mostly faded.” You say, “Oh, right! I never asked, do you draw? You mentioned it earlier.” Indrid nodded,

“I do, mostly landscapes though. From around town.” This was doable. Indrid could work with this, as long as he didn’t talk about your art before you did. “Do you?” he asked,

“Yeah, I usually draw people, super stylized and cartoony though.” You grin, “If you’re willing, I’d like to see your work sometime?” you shrug, “It’s alright if you don’t want to, though.”

“No, it’s alright, I’d love to see yours as well,” Indrid reassured, you grinned. 

“You want to bring a sketchbook or something tomorrow? It’s too dark right now, and I don’t wanna turn on a light, just in case.” 

“In case of what?”

“Another headache. Since I don’t know what’s causing them... “ You shrug and look up at the sky, 

“-better safe than sorry.” Indrid mumbled along with you, who grinned. 

“10/10, yet again.” you say, stretching out one of your legs, which popped audibly. You hissed as you moved the other. 

“You should probably try to sleep again, if your head isn’t hurting.” Indrid advised, if you went now you’d fall asleep in ten minutes instead of sixty. 

“Mmm…” you agree, interrupted by a yawn. “Yeah, you too. I get that inspo strikes at inopportune moments, but it’s like…” You looked up at the moon, “3am. So-” You stand up, and hold out a hand for Indrid, who takes it, and you pull him to his feet. “I’m gonna say goodnight, and see you tomorrow,” 

“Goodnight, _____” 

You wave as you close the door, yawning. Indrid waves back, shoving his hands into his pockets, they hit something. A crumpled up piece of paper. He knew even before unfolding it that it was the drawing of you, agonized in the woods. He takes one last look at your trailer before disappearing back into his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna be real, I have no idea how to write realistic conversations.
> 
> Also! Once this fic is complete, I'll be uploading the mystery sheet for it on my tumblr (same username) just in case anyone wants to run it as a campaign.

**Author's Note:**

> New chapter coming soon, here's some edits in the meantime.


End file.
